Monday, February 11, 2013

Still not used to seeing clots of other birders. Although I saw a lot more cameras than binos...

Deer bed at P-a-P. Front legs at the left, rump at right

P-a-P 'interesting' gull assemblage at dusk

Scanning for creepers

Westmount Summit

P-a-P Park

female House FinchHaemorhous
mexicanus

Red-breasted NuthatchSitta
canadensis

Pine GrosbeakPinicola
enucleator

American GoldfinchSpinus
tristis

Pine GrosbeakPinicola
enucleator

Pine GrosbeakPinicola
enucleator

Pine GrosbeakPinicola
enucleator

female Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus
pileatus

female Northern CardinalCardinalis
cardinalis

It was a gorgeous sunny day for a winter birding marathon,
with close to 25 species seen. Dan and I
first stopped in at the Westmount Summit, where the most notable bird was an
elusive Brown Creeper. We spotted it in the same remote spot where I saw one way back in 2008. We
followed a hot tip about a nearby Great
Horned Owl, but all was quiet on that front today.

Next it was back to
the Botanical Gardens in the east end, where we hoped to get some more Redpoll
experience. We quickly spotted a half
dozen birder/photographers swarmed under a berry tree. They were all after a group of four stunning
female Pine Grosbeaks. They reminded me of parrots, as they curled
around branches to get after the berries, their rumps and heads sparkling
orange in the sun. Two of the grosbeaks were much more subdued, with only
minimal yellowish colouring around their heads. We later got great close views of a handful of American Goldfinch and House
Finch. Coming from quiet Korea(where each foreign birder is issued his own province, haha), it
was bizarre to be in the midst of a dozen or so birders/photographers!

At the Point aux
Prairies Park we were thrilled to have a close encounter with a massive female Pileated Woodpecker and some White-tailed Deer. In the nearby St-Lawrence River we scanned a
large raft of about 300 gulls, with interesting results. So interesting that...expect a gull post in the near future.

About Me

Howdy! I'm a birder from Montreal who has been working and birding in South Korea since 2005. I've lived on Jeju and Geoje Islands, and have birded at a diverse range of sites in South Korea. After drifting around Europe for a bit, I'm back in Suncheon, Korea for one last hurrah. Ergo sum ego avem. (contact me at mattpoll24 at gmail dot com)